Things to add for future Impacts for addons Bio-d / Amazon rainforest impact 1ac Plan

Inland Waterway privatization will destroy efficiency and trigger massive opposition

Under present management practices, shippers and towboat operators are mainly motivated to consider their own costs while neglecting the government's costs. For example, a current controversy is whether "industry self-help" should be used to reduce congestion by speeding the locking process. Industry self-help imposes costs on towboat operators, but costs the government nothing. In contrast, extending locks shifts the costs of reducing congestion from towboat operators to the government (a portion of the project costs are paid by the fuel tax that goes into the Inland Waterways Trust Fund 1 ).

Large amounts of waterway traffic, and the hydrodynamic changes caused by the series of navigation pools, have effects on aquatic habitat and species. The many federal, state, and local environmental conservation laws, such as the Clean Water Act and the Endangered Species Act, reflect public concern for protecting the river and its ecosystems. In addition, environmental protection provides tangible benefits from tourism, recreation, and the production of food and fiber. Estimates of the annual revenue generated by tourism and recreation in the Upper Mississippi range from $1.2 billion (Carlson et al., 1995) to $6.6 billion (cited in UMRCC, 2000). The vast river–floodplain ecosystem of the Upper Mississippi River basin also provides a range of ecosystem services, including drinking water, food (fishes and waterfowl), groundwater recharge, purification of polluted waters, and flood retention. The Upper Mississippi River ecosystem is a storehouse of biodiversity, which produces social benefits today (e.g., food and fiber), and may produce additional benefits in the future (e.g., medicines).

On the other hand, intensive use of the waterway has negative effects on river ecology and, in turn, on these various social values and goods. The construction and subsequent operation of the dams and navigation pools on the UMR–IWW has also resulted in a range of environmental effects. Given these external costs, the multiple uses of a river and waterway system must be considered explicitly when deciding how much traffic should be permitted on the waterway and whether locks should be extended in order to accommodate more traffic. The public interest would be best served by river traffic management practices that are environmentally sustainable; that is, strategies that promote both a better flow of river traffic and the maintenance of ecosystem habitat and processes.

The Corps has viewed its responsibility as providing adequate capacity to serve all waterway users; for example, deciding on the proper investments and determining the best time to make those investments. These decisions are guided by federal laws and congressional guidance (a fuller discussion of which is provided in Chapter 3 ). The Corps has given little or no attention to allocating the waterway among all those who wish to use the locks when there is congestion.

The best solution to the problem of waterway congestion would be to simultaneously optimize access to the locks and to determine when public investment to extend the locks might be warranted. Instead, access to the locks is determined on the basis of delays caused by having to wait for others to clear the lock. Long waits to transit the locks indicate either that the locks should be extended or that current demand for the locks is being managed poorly. The public interest requires that the relevant government agency have responsibility for both managing the traffic and investing in lock extensions. Approaches for traffic management include nonstructural options such as tradable permits, congestion tolls, scheduling traffic, and charging for the time taken to transit a lock. This management problem interacts with a larger, more contentious one. Midwest grain could be moved on several routes for export. In addition to going by barge to New Orleans, grain could be shipped by rail to St. Louis and then by barge to New Orleans. It could also be shipped by rail to the Great Lakes or by rail to the Columbia River, then by barge or by rail to West Coast ports such as Portland. Thus, in addition to farmers, towboat operators, and recreational users, railroads, and ports (such as New Orleans, St. Louis, and Portland) also have a large stake in the issue of lock extensions and grain transportation on the UMR –IWW.

Demand for waterway transportation is a derived demand that depends on demand for grain in other nations and the cost of shipping grain to the customer. Iowa grain competes with Illinois grain, as well as with Argentinian, Brazilian, and Canadian grain. Shipping costs are an important determinant of which grain is cheapest in Yokohama or Shanghai. Congestion at Mississippi River locks could result in Brazil getting the sale and Iowa land being used for other crops. The combination of fertile land in the Upper Midwest and a cheap water transport system has conveyed a large advantage to American grain.

Fundamentally, Congress directs the Corps to conduct the wrong analysis in assessing the benefits and costs of lock extensions under the current approach to waterway traffic management. Improving traffic management is a more immediate, cost-effective, and environmentally sustainable way to handle congestion than through traditional capacity (supply side) expansion. Because traffic is managed by waiting time and service rules that were not designed to internalize congestion costs, lock demand is artificially high. If the benefits of lock extensions are based on waterway traffic levels without any type of traffic management system, the analysis will thus overstate the social benefits of extensions and could lead to lock extensions where none are justified. If traffic on the waterway was properly managed, the economic justification for some lock extensions would disappear. Congress has the authority to determine public policies for inland waterways and has the responsibility to make such determinations. If Congress believes that the public interest is served by subsidizing navigation on these waterways, it is within Congress' authority to subsidize navigation. This committee notes that past decisions by Congress and the Corps imply that both believe that commercial traffic on inland waterways is of great value to the public. Benefits are thus estimated on the basis of serving demand, where the level of demand is determined by private costs, rather than by the higher, collective costs of all of the system's users. We note this implicit assumption and the bias in the resulting analysis. Having done that. we now proceed to advise the Corps on how to conduct a benefits analysis under their assumptions.

Federal action is key to ensure increased use of inland waterways for freight transportation --- private action will fail

The federal government is required by law to control inland waterways

Haulk, 98 – Ph.d in Economics, Research Director of the Allegheny Institute for Public Policy and former senior business economist with the Federal Reserve (Jake, “Inland Waterways as Vital National Infrastructure: Refuting "Corporate Welfare" Attacks”, http://38.106.4.84/docs/haulk--inland_waterways_as_vital_national_infrastructure.pdf)
With this study, Dr. Haulk convincinginly answers the critics of federal waterways funding who argue that such infrastructure investment represents a form of “corporate welfare.” Bolstered by tax-cutting and budget-balancing fervor and a rising tide of resentment over "federal dependent corporations," as former Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich termed it, a number of think-tanks and taxpayer groups have called billions of dollars in cuts in programs which they believe benefit industries rather than the public interest. One of these is the Army of Engineers' civil works program, which evaluates, plans, constructs, operates, and maintains the nation's inland waterways system. According to those who agitate for vastly reduced or total elimination of federal funding for shallow-draft waterways-funding which has nonetheless been provided since the 18th century-the expenditures are nothing more than "elaborate subsidies for a handful rich and powerful barge and towboat companies." As this paper this is an extreme exaggeration, one that unfairly masks the myriad benefits provided by inland and intracoastal waterways to a major of the United States. A key point raised by Dr. Haulk, and ignored every "corporate welfare" study, is that the inland waterways system is a unique treasure. It cannot be owned by any company or state. It is the exclusive domain of Uncle Sam, and the federal government is legal "guardian," with the responsibility to ensure that the national is served. As transportation arteries, the waterways are a public open to all, with intense competition guaranteeing that freight are continually at a bare minimum. The waterways suffer somewhat because their vital cargo-capacity lies largely away from public view. Yet, at any given time, of tons of bulk commodities-such as coal, chemicals, petroleum, fertilizer, iron and steel, and building materials-are moving along America's rivers and waterways. And the goods are moving efficiently, economically and safely. When the sum users of the inland waterways system are totaled up, they far outnumber the “handful of barge companies” described by the Cato Institute as the only beneficiaries of federal waterwyas spending. The lack of a good definition of “corporate welfare” also hinders any attempt to include the waterways system as a recipient of government largesse. As Dr. Haulk points out, navigation is but one component inland waterways system. Flood control, shore protection, municipal industrial water supply, bank stabilization, water recreation, and hydroelectric power generation are all benefits provided by our waterways. The total return on the federal investment in these many times greater than their cost, and has much wider influence individual study to date has documented. Dr. Haulk's paper is excellent contribution to "corporate welfare" studies, as it examines budget outlays in a broader-and thus more long-term-context. It presents all the facts, not merely those that are economically convenient a certain viewpoint.

The reality is that the American waterways system passes every test which the Cato Institute and other think tanks have used to ascertain federal program is a legitimate government investment or "corporate welfare." The Progressive Policy Institute, for example, as part of its corporate welfare study, asserts that "those who receive support project should bear part of the project's cost." The waterways satisfy this requirement. User charges, in the form of the highest fuel tax transportation mode, fund 50 percent of the cost of new construction major rehabilitation. Competitiveness artificially supported by subsidies? In fact, it's the other way around. The waterways hold overland rates in check and provide an cost-effective, alternate form of transport in the vast midcontinent as well as in coastal regions. Subsidies harming American competitiveness abroad? Without the waterways, millions tons of American grain might never reach ports to be exported, jeopardizing America's competitive edge and undermining agricultural livelihoods across the country.

It has become fashionable for some groups to issue yearly reports decrying the billions of dollars spent by the federal government on a wide range of subsidies, tax breaks, and questionable outlays benefitting certain industries. However, each report seems to be driven by a specific agenda and is often quite narrow in focus and economic analysis. With waterways, however, the scope is much broader. Waterway serve not a single business, but a vast collection of individual businesses, entire economic sectors, and geographic regions. Dr. Haulk's paper serves answer charges against the inland waterway system by broadening focus to the point where the entire range of benefits and returns examined rationally. In that light, federal support of the inland system appears as it should - a prudent investment with an even remarkable economic return.

--- XT: Government Action Necessary

Government is key – only way to ensure successful management and funding

Colonel Donald E. Jackson Jr. March 14 2007, Leveraging the Strategic Value of the U.S. Inland Waterway System, USAWC STRATEGY RESEARCH PROJECT, http://www.dtic.mil/cgi-bin/GetTRDoc?AD=ADA469583)
Transportation infrastructure requires a strategic-level approach to management, funding, and integration. National policy makers must balance the strengths and limitations of each transportation industry sector, ensuring their collective capabilities support projected U.S. economic and national security requirements. Based upon the capabilities inherent in each of these industries, supporting infrastructure must be available, expanded, or modernized that enable them to meet current and future transportation requirements. American transportation infrastructure requires continual investment to remain a viable means of moving freight, as well as routine maintenance, periodic modernization, and expansion to maintain adequate operability. The federal government has a Constitutional responsibility to provide adequate transportation infrastructure that supports the nation’s economy, as a means of regulating interstate commerce. While federal responsibilities for transportation infrastructure are collectively substantial, they are, however, widely disbursed and not well coordinated. 6 Congress is responsible for synchronizing the efforts of industry stakeholders and government entities, making tough decisions on resource allocations that collectively meet the strategic requirements of the transportation system. This effort requires both an interagency and intragovernmental approach.

AT: CPs --- Delays Bad

Any further delay risk collapse and economic crises --- including electricity price spikes

WSJ, 11 (1/6/2011, Jennifer Levitz And Cameron McWhirter, The Wall Street Journal Online, “Old Locks Jam River Traffic; Delays on the Water Hurt Shippers, Push Prices Up as Renovation Efforts Stall,” Factiva, JMP)
On the busy Ohio River system, 2,500 miles of waterways that begin near Pittsburgh and run to the Mississippi River, river haulers lost nearly 80,000 hours to lock outages in 2009, up from about 55,000 hours in 2005, according to the Corps. Some of the outages were planned, to allow for repairs, but many were unplanned, the Corps said.

"Things could snap at any moment—that's what keeps you up at night," said Col. William Graham, commander of the Pittsburgh district for the Corps. The failure of many locks at once would create an "economic disaster," causing coal, grain fertilizer, and other goods shipped by water to spike in price, he said.

Some 60% of U.S. grain exports and 20% of coal used for electricity generation is moved by barge, according to Waterways Council, an industry group.

AT: Other Transportation CPs

Waterway transportation is 9 times cheaper than trucking and 3 times cheaper than rail

GAO 12 (Jan 26, 2011, U.S. Government Accountability Office, A Comparison of the Costs of Road, Rail, and Waterways Freight Shipments That Are Not Passed on to Consumers, http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-134)
Road, rail, and waterway freight transportation is vital to the nation's economy. Government tax, regulatory, and infrastructure investment policies can affect the costs that shippers pass on to their customers. If government policy gives one mode a cost advantage over another, by, for example, not recouping all the costs of that mode's use of infrastructure, then shipping prices and customers' use of freight modes can be distorted, reducing the overall efficiency of the nation's economy. As requested, this report (1) describes how government policies can affect competition and efficiency within the surface freight transportation sector, (2) determines what is known about the extent to which all costs are borne by surface freight customers, and (3) discusses the use of the findings when making future surface freight transportation policy. GAO reviewed the transportation literature and analyzed financial and technical data from the Department of Transportation (DOT), the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps), and the Environmental Protection Agency to make cross-modal comparisons at a national level. Data limitations and assumptions inherent in an aggregate national comparison are noted in the report.

Public spending, tax, and regulatory policies can promote economic efficiency in the freight transportation sector when they result in prices that reflect all marginal costs (the cost to society of one additional unit of service). These costs include private costs; public costs, such as infrastructure maintenance; and external costs, such as congestion, pollution, and accidents. When prices do not reflect all these costs, one mode may have a cost advantage over the others that distorts competition. As a consequence, the nation could devote more resources than needed to higher cost freight modes, an inefficient outcome that lowers economic well-being. Inefficient public investment decisions can result when all construction and other fixed costs are not passed on to the beneficiaries of that investment. GAO's analysis shows that on average, additional freight service provided by trucks generated significantly more costs that are not passed on to consumers of that service than the same amount of freight service provided by either rail or water. GAO estimates that freight trucking costs that were not passed on to consumers were at least 6 times greater than rail costs and at least 9 times greater than waterways costs per million ton miles of freight transport. Most of these costs were external costs imposed on society. Marginal public infrastructure costs were significant only for trucking. Given limitations in the highway, rail, and waterway economic, financial, technical, and environmental data available for the analysis, GAO presents conservative estimates. While freight costs are not fully passed on to consumers across all modes, a number of issues are important for decision makers to consider when proposing policy changes to align prices with marginal costs or reduce the difference between government fixed costs and revenues. Costs can vary widely based on the specific characteristics of an individual shipment, such as the geography and population density of the shipment's route, and the fuel-efficiency of the specific vehicle carrying it. Policy changes that align prices with marginal costs on a shipment-by-shipment basis would provide the greatest economic benefit, but precisely targeted policy changes can result in high administrative costs. By contrast, less targeted changes--such as charging user fees based on average costs, subsidizing more efficient alternatives, or broadly applying safety or emissions regulations--can change the overall distribution of freight across modes, but may provide fewer benefits. Although the current configuration of transportation infrastructure can limit the shifting of freight among modes, price changes can prompt other economic responses. Over the longer term, there is greater potential for responses that will shape the overall distribution and use of freight services. GAO is not making recommendations in this report. GAO provided a draft of this report to DOT and the Corps. DOT provided technical suggestions and corrections, which were incorporated as appropriate. The Corps had no comments

Movement from barge to rail would destroy the rail industry, and the economy

C. James Kruse et al 2011, Director at Center for Ports & Waterways Annie Protopapas and the Associate Research Scientist, Zafarbek Ahmedov Graduate Research Assistant, Bruce McCarl Professor, Ximing Wu Associate Professor James Mjelde Professor, December 2011, “AMERICA’S LOCKS & DAMS: “A TICKING TIME BOMB FOR AGRICULTURE?””, http://www.unitedsoybean.org/wp-content/uploads/Americas_Locks_And_Dams.pdf)
Currently, rail capacity cannot be considered constrained. However, general demand for rail transportation (all commodities) is projected to grow at a fast rate through 2035. The resulting level of congestion would affect nearly every region of the country and would likely cause severe price adjustments and congestion delays without significant investment in railroad infrastructure. A potential diversion of barge traffic to rail would further add to the forecasted demand resulting in devastating effects on rail infrastructure, our economy, and our standard of living.106

Rural rail network lines have declined, and abandonments by Class I railroads, short lines, and regional companies continue. The push to trainload operations increased overall capacity while making individual shippers and smaller elevator firms carry the cost of assembly of those unit train volumes. Guaranteed railcar ordering systems provide efficiency but at increased cost. Determining effective capacity available to agriculture is complex and cannot be separated from service issues, rate levels, structure, and competition for traffic.

Adequate rail capacity is necessary to move agricultural products to market in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Rail capacity constraints force traffic from rail to truck, increasing transportation costs and damage to highways. Capacity constraints were common from 2003 through the first half of 2006. Weaker demand for rail freight transportation beginning in late 2006, and a recession that began in December 2007 resulted in adequate rail capacity for agricultural products during the harvest of 2006, and from 2007 through the first half of 2009. However, capacity constraints are expected to occur again when the economy recovers. Increased use of the rail lines, which benefited the railroads financially, also contributed significantly to rail congestion. Each route mile during 2007 carried, on average, 171% more traffic in ton-miles—nearly three times the traffic—than in 1980. By the end of 2007, short line and regional railroads operated nearly 46,000 main line miles of track—a little more than 30% of the U.S. railroad network. Short line and regional railroads often provide rail service to rural shippers on lines that otherwise would have been abandoned.

The capacity of the car fleet in tons increased nearly 14% from 1976 to 2007, even though the number of railcars decreased by more than 18%. %. The ton-miles increased nearly 93% from 1980 through 2007, indicating that railcars in 2007 were loaded more frequently than in 1976 due to shorter cycle times. The number of engines available to the Class I railroads has increased 34% since 1992. The aggregate horsepower of those locomotives also steadily increased, up 71.5% since 1992. Railroads are relying more and more on privately owned cars to provide the capacity to handle shipper demands, shifting the investment burden from the carriers to the shippers. Since 1981, shippers and other investors have provided 88% of all new railcar acquisitions.

Water transport is the most environmentally sound and economically viable form of transportation

Krouse 5/18 (Peter, 2012. Politifact Ohio Writer. “Rep. Bob Gibbs touts water transportation for efficiency, safety and cost” http://www.politifact.com/ohio/statements/2012/may/28/bob-gibbs/rep-bob-gibbs-touts-water-transportation-efficienc/)WKS

Rep. Bob Gibbs is a big proponent of water transportation. As chair of the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment (part of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure) he recently held a hearing on the soundness of the country’s inland waterway system, which includes the Ohio River. Gibbs, a Republican from Holmes County, finds the system lacking. Deferred maintenance resulting from budget constraints on the U.S. Corps of Engineers increases the likelihood of a calamity befalling the system, he said at the April 18 hearing. If improvements aren’t made, it could doom the country’s inland water system, he said, and that would be a costly bit of negligence because water transportation is a vital cog in our economy "Water transportation is the most fuel efficient, least polluting, safest, and least expensive means of moving cargo," he said. That’s a pretty definitive statement. PolitiFact Ohio decided to check it out. First of all, Gibbs was referring to inland waterways and their barge traffic that runs north and south along major navigable rivers, such as the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio. River barges usually carry large volumes of low-value commodities, such as grain and coal. They compete to varying degrees with railroads and trucks, but more often than not they work in tandem. Ninety percent of all barge traffic depends on a connection with either rail or truck, said Chris Dager, research economist at the University of Tennessee. Trillions of dollars of freight moves each year over the country’s transportation network, which includes 4 million miles of highways and roads, 140,000 miles of rail and 25,000 of commercially navigable waterways. The problem with a blanket statement that any form of transportation is the cheapest or safest is that it can vary depending on the circumstances. A commodities broker shipping corn from Iowa to New Orleans, for example, would send it by barge down the Mississippi, not by rail or truck. It will take longer to ship — the down river speed is about 9 mph — but cost far less. But if time is of the essence, or if a river with loading terminals isn’t handy, rail or truck may be the only feasible options. Over-the-road delivery has a cost advantage at times because a trucker can drop off a load hundreds of miles away and usually find something to haul back on his return trip. That’s known as back-hauling and while it occurs usually 90 percent of the time with long-haul trucks, the rate is only 45 to 50 percent for barges, said Larry Bray, a research economist at University of Tennessee. Railroads, on the other hand, usually return with empty cars, except for containers and boxcars. And some areas of a river are more efficient than others. On the lower Mississippi River, barges move along unimpeded, but on the upper reaches they move more slowly because of multiple dams and locks. And when it comes to delays, some rail and highway locations are legendary for their congestion. With all that in mind, let’s consider some numbers. As of 2010, a river barge could transport an average of 640 tons of cargo per mile on a gallon of diesel, Dager said, thanks to recent improvements that include barges with deeper drafts and computer systems that provide up-to-the-minute profiles of a river bottom. Railroads have made their own improvements, including larger railcars, better engines, and improved business modeling. They can now carry an average of 490 ton-miles of cargo per gallon of diesel, according to Dager. Trucks are the least fuel efficient, with an average of 75-to-150 ton-miles per gallon of diesel, depending on how far they travel. In addition, some social costs aren’t passed along to the consumer that need to be acknowledged. These include government subsidies for infrastructure (something trucks benefit from greatly, waterborne vessels to a much less extent, and railroads the least), congestion, and the effects on health and safety. Those costs in the aggregate are highest for trucks, followed by rail and then water transportation, according to a 2011 report by the Government Accountability Office called "Surface Freight Transportation: A Comparison of the costs of Road, Rail, and Waterways Freight Shipments That Are Not Passed on to Consumers." And then there’s this statement from Mitchell Moss, director of the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management at New York University’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service: "Water transportation is one of the most economical ways to move cargo, especially bulk cargo." While there are comparative advantages to each mode of transportation, Moss said, on average water is the least expensive and most fuel efficient. So, it appears that Gibbs was correct when he said water transportation is the most fuel efficient way to move cargo, as well as the least expensive. He also said water transportation was the cleanest and safest way to move cargo. Those specific factors also are addressed in the GAO report. The report states that trucks generate 238 pounds of particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less per million ton-miles of freight delivered. That compares to 36 pounds for rail locomotives and 23 pounds for waterborne vessels. Trucks also generate more than 6,000 pounds tons of nitrogen oxide per million ton-miles, compared with nearly 1,350 pounds for locomotives and about 938 pounds for waterborne vessels. And when it comes to greenhouse gases, barges spew forth the least amount. Finally, water transportation accounts for fewer accidents and injuries per ton-mile of delivered freight than trucks and rail, according to the GAO. Gibbs said that water transportation is the cheapest, safest, cleanest and most fuel efficient way to move cargo. Clearly, it’s the most fuel efficient on average. It’s also safer and cleaner. As for the expense, because barge traffic is so dependent on rail and trucking, those two modes of transportation could have an impact. But that said, the experts we talked to were persuasive that on average, water transportation is least expensive. On the Truth-O-Meter, Gibbs’ statement rates True.

Volatile fuel prices makes water transportation preferable

Bray, 11 --- Center for Transportation Research, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (9/21/2011, Larry G., Congressional Documents and Publications, House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Hearing - "The Economic Importance and Financial Challenges of Recapitalizing the Nation's Inland Waterways Transportation System,” Factiva, JMP)
Future Fuel Prices and the Demand for Inland Navigation Capacity

Fuel is basic and in the short-run fuel markets can fluctuate a great deal. Still, in the current context, it is the long-run pattern of fuel availability and pricing that matters most. Forecasts for petroleum prices vary widely, with the severity of projected increases or degree of relative price stability generally correlated to the politics of the forecast-issuing organization. The US Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration provides three long-range price forecasts - a mid-range prediction bounded by high and low forecasted values. The mid-range forecast suggests an increase in inflation-adjusted petroleum prices from $60 per barrel to $130 per barrel (117 percent) between the time of the forecast (2007) and the out-year (2030). A moving average of monthly prices observed over the four years since the forecasts' release depicts a trend that is slightly above the mid-range forecast, but well-below the "worst case" projections. In addition to underlying a predicted upward trend in petroleum prices, actual prices observed over the past decade also suggest increased petroleum price volatility. There are a number of available explanations for this volatility, but the most likely seems to lie in a lack of excess production capacity among OPEC members which, in turn, has limited the cartel's ability to dampen rapid spikes in worldwide crude oil prices.

At the simplest level, escalating fuel prices favor inland navigation over other freight modes. The per-ton-mile rate of fuel consumption of waterway vessels is generally lower than a similar figure for railroad locomotives and several times less than the corresponding rate for trucks. This said, a number of factors partially mitigate navigation's advantage in this area. n12 Even so, this advantage seems likely to persist for the foreseeable future.

AT: Rail CP

Rail is not a suitable replacement for waterways transportation --- especially for coal

Bray, 11 --- Center for Transportation Research, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (9/21/2011, Larry G., Congressional Documents and Publications, House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Hearing - "The Economic Importance and Financial Challenges of Recapitalizing the Nation's Inland Waterways Transportation System,” Factiva, JMP)
Could Expanded Railroad Service Eliminate the Need for Commercial Navigation?

Transportation industry pundits freely use the word "renaissance" to describe the railroad industry changes that have occurred since its deregulation in 1980. From the mid 1980s through the early years of the current century real railroad costs per ton-mile of freight service fell steadily and, in most cases, the rates charged to shippers mirrored cost reductions. During the same period railroads consolidated operations and rationalized networks, trimming thousands of route-miles, while simultaneously investing billions of dollars in the trackage they retained. Unquestionably, in 2011, both the fiscal and physical state of the railroad industry is vastly improved over what existed less than 30 years ago.

I would suggest, however, that in spite of these improvements (or perhaps, because of them), today's freight railroads are neither prepared for nor probably desirous of the traffic moved on the nation's inland waterway system. Several factors support this conclusion. First, many of the largest shippers of bulk commodities - both coal and stone - are at locations that are not (and cannot be) rail-served. For these shippers, the loss of waterborne commerce would simply mean shutdown. In numerous other cases, a switch from barge to rail would require extensive capital investments to create the necessary railroad connections and on-ground storage areas.

Rail is either not suitable or will drive up costs that wrecks the competitiveness of industries

Bray, 11 --- Center for Transportation Research, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (9/21/2011, Larry G., Congressional Documents and Publications, House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment Hearing - "The Economic Importance and Financial Challenges of Recapitalizing the Nation's Inland Waterways Transportation System,” Factiva, JMP)
Next, there is the issue of both equipment and line-haul track capacity. A wholesale diversion of waterway traffic to the nation's rail network would require roughly 100 thousand additional railroad freight cars and 2,500 additional locomotives. n10 It would also increase total annual railroad tonnage by roughly 33 percent. n11 The additional traffic could be readily absorbed on some route segments. On others, however, it would require substantial capacity expansions through the addition of mainline tracks, passing sidings, and signal upgrades. There is no reason to expect that the railroad industry could not accomplish these increases. However, given its self-proclaimed limited ability to raise capital funds, there is no guarantee that this could be done without outside (federal) assistance.

Additionally, commercial navigation moves a significant amount of tonnage that railroads do not want or simply cannot accommodate. Over the past decade, Class I carriers, lead by CSX, have actively worked to shed their most hazardous chemical traffic, contending that the costs associated with this traffic are simply unrecoverable under anything like current rate structures. The same is also true of less perilous, but equally troublesome cargoes such as salt and asphalt. Finally, the weight and/or dimensions of a small number of waterborne shipments simply exceed anything that can be reasonably moved by any other freight mode - including rail. Again, without the waterway the shipments would simply disappear.

Setting aside all of these considerations, the fact remains that current inland navigation tonnages are on the waterway system based on the preferences of shippers, presumably because waterborne carriage reduces achievable costs. Thus, any forced substitution of railroad transport, where feasible, would, at a minimum; increase costs and diminish the competitiveness of the affected shippers.

2ac Obama Good

Turn --- Obama’s currently pushing for a more unpopular proposal and the corn industry supports the aff

Boselovic, 12 (3/25/12, Len, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “LEGISLATION PROPOSED TO FUND DETERIORATING LOCKS AND DAMS,” Factiva, JMP)
Some are proposing tolls as a way for industry to shoulder more of the costs. In the proposed budget he sent to Congress in February, President Barack Obama, a Democrat, proposed raising $1.1 billion over 10 years by charging barge operators tolls for using locks. Locking fees have been proposed since the 1930s, but Congress has never approved them.

"We are adamantly opposed to a lockage fee," said Greg Guenther, a Belleville, Ill., farmer who was among the corn growers in Washington, D.C., last week to lobby for Mr. Whitfield's bill and other farm legislation.

Widespread support and no vocal opposition

Waterways Journal, 11 (2/7/2011, Editorial, “Objections Stifle Plan To Improve Infrastructure,” http://www.waterwaysjournal.net/news020711.html, JMP)
According to Cornel Martin, president and chief executive officer of Waterways Council Inc., who expressed disappointment over rejection of the investment plan, “the plan enjoys wide support, and has generated no vocal opposition,” he said.

Martin has indicated numerous times in the past that water transportation is “our nation’s most environmentally sound, energy efficient and congestion-relieving mode of transportation.” That conclusion is well documented.

Barge and towing industry support the plan

WSJ, 11 (1/6/2011, Jennifer Levitz And Cameron McWhirter, The Wall Street Journal Online, “Old Locks Jam River Traffic; Delays on the Water Hurt Shippers, Push Prices Up as Renovation Efforts Stall,” Factiva, JMP)
The barge and towing industry is lobbying members of the new Congress to spend more on fixing locks and dams and overhauling the way the government finances and oversees river projects.

A 20-year capital-development plan by the Inland Waterways Users Board, which monitors use of the fuel tax, calls for the Corps to spend $7.6 billion to fix the lock-and-dam system over the next 20 years, with both the industry and the government paying more.

The industry's fuel tax would rise from about 20 cents a gallon now to between 26 cents and 29 cents a gallon, raising about $110 million a year, compared with the current $85 million, according to the users board.

AT: Economy Disads

Water infrastructure investment spending is uniquely good --- boosts growth, jobs and competitiveness

The Waterways Journal, 10 (5/17/2010, “Editorial: Prudence Suggests Better Stewardship Of Spending,” http://www.waterwaysjournal.net/editorial051710.htm, JMP)
For as long as we can remember, federal reports have acknowledged that investment in water resources development has paid good dividends. At a time when the government is struggling with ways to increase employment, thereby providing a much needed boost to the economy, we suggest that Congress pay close attention to a 20-year plan intended “to keep our waterways reliable and bring billions of dollars in benefits to our economy, creating and maintaining a host of jobs along the way.”

As reported this week by WJ’s Carlo J. Salzano, Matt Woodruff, director of government affairs for Kirby Corporation, was among witnesses May 6 at a Senate committee hearing called to examine the ways that investment in the nation’s water resources infrastructure creates and saves jobs and increases America’s economic competitiveness. Woodruff is also general counsel of Waterways Council Inc. His purpose was to enlist the committee’s help with the 20-year-plan, which was adopted by the Inland Waterways Users Board (WJ, April 19, 2010). It includes a recommendation that the current diesel fuel tax be increased by 30 to 45 percent, Salzano reported.

Also appearing before the committee was Mitch White, representing the Associated General Contractors of America. He is general counsel for the Manson Construction Company, Long Beach, Calif., well-known in the heavy marine construction and dredging business. White urged the committee to act swiftly to bring about passage of a new Water Resources Development Act “as a means of providing a legislative vehicle which, when coupled with significant funding, will substantially boost construction activity.”

The messages Woodruff and White delivered are in keeping with pronouncements by committee Chairman Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), ranking member of the committee. Both see job creation as top priority. Sen. Boxer cited estimates by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers showing that “every $1 billion in federal investment in water resources projects creates about 26,000 jobs.” She said that projects, policies and programs authorized by WRDA “are essential components of creating jobs and keeping our economy growing.” (A House subcommittee is already considering 2,200 project requests for WRDA 2010.)

Salzano quoted Inhofe as saying, “the two things the federal government should invest in are national defense and public infrastructure.” He disagreed with critics who say Corps projects are a waste of taxpayer dollars and that WRDA 2007 was “full of pork projects.” (That is the last year a WRDA was passed.) According to Inhofe, “Investments in infrastructure—including water resources infrastructure such as navigation channels, ports, flood control and hurricane protection measures—not only have short-term job creation benefits, but more importantly, they help bring about long-term economic development opportunities.” Inhofe said he tried to see that a greater percentage of stimulus dollars were directed to infrastructure, but “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen.”

Woodruff pointed out that inland waterways infrastructure construction projects have been underfunded, while Trust Fund surpluses have been spent. He said we have too little to show for that investment and that emphasis has been placed on starting projects rather than finishing them. “Under the 20-year-plan,” he said, “25 projects would be finished in the next 20 years, instead of six, and the country would avoid between $350 million and almost $1.2 billion in project-cost growth.”

While it was the combined railroad and environmental lawsuit that held up the Locks and Dam 26 replacement project for virtually a decade (not government mismanagement), the delay increased the cost of the project from $383 million to just over $1 billion and added $7.5 billion in increased railroad shipping costs—the railroad’s own estimate. In the case of the 25 projects described by Woodruff, he said we will gain at least $2.8 billion that would be lost if completion were to be delayed.

Billions in stimulus dollars have been handed out in a fashion that is not producing the economic stimulus desired to help our nation recover. Further, many of the projects to which money has been given are frivolous, not necessary, and do not provide lasting employment. On the other hand, improving the nation’s infrastructure—in this case the inland waterways, Great Lakes and coastal areas—will provide employment benefits and other lasting economic benefits for decades to come. Woodruff emphasized, “Barge transportation is the greenest, safest and most energy efficient mode of surface transportation.” America without barges “would be a more congested, polluted, costly and dangerous place.”

Prudence is the key word. It is prudent for government to provide better stewardship to see that scarce dollars are spent wisely and not frivolously. We can think of no better expenditure than water resources development.

Turn --- current piecemeal funding makes inevitable projects more costly

WSJ, 11 (1/6/2011, Jennifer Levitz And Cameron McWhirter, The Wall Street Journal Online, “Old Locks Jam River Traffic; Delays on the Water Hurt Shippers, Push Prices Up as Renovation Efforts Stall,” Factiva, JMP)
Waterways infrastructure is funded by both the barge and towing industry and the federal government. The industry pays a fuel tax into a trust fund for waterways construction, and the cost of projects is generally split 50-50 with the government.

But many projects authorized for funds by Congress don't receive enough federal money each year to remain on schedule, said Jeanine Hoey, a chief of the Corps' engineering division. "If you are building a house, and you buy a door one year, and next year you buy a garage door, and the next a couple of windows—if you had bought the whole house together it would have been much cheaper than buying each little piece at a time," she said.

Piecemeal funding accounted for a third of cost overruns on projects, according to a 2008 study by the Corps. The remaining two-thirds of problems were design complications, some traced to the Corps' own decisions, the study found. One project to repair locks at Paducah, Ky. began in 1993, with a cost estimate of $775 million over seven years. The still-unfinished project is now estimated to cost $2 billion and won't be complete until around 2018. The Corps says the project has been underfunded in all but five years.

Unpredictable funding has stymied the Charleroi Locks, which is part of a project with an original $556 million price tag that has now ballooned to nearly $1.5 billion, according to the Corps.

Inland water way transportation investment generates $3 dollars in revenue for every $1 spent

ASCE, 12 (American Society of Civil Engineers, Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, “Illinois - Navigable Waterways,” http://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/node/178) DG

As the world's leading maritime and trading nation, the U.S. relies on an efficient and effective marine transport system to maintain its role as a global power. Navigable channels provide efficient and economical corridors for moving 2.3 billion tons of the nation's domestic and foreign commodities. The 110 million tons of material transported annually on Illinois waterways are equivalent to 4.4 million semi trailer truck loads or 1.5 million rail cars. For every $1 invested to improve navigation infrastructure, U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) increases more than $3. Illinois’s waterways account for a large percentage of that system and contribute greatly to the country’s economy, according to the Illinois Chamber of Commerce Infrastructure Council. Unfortunately, in recent years national investment in water resources projects has not kept pace with economic and social expansion. Over the last 30 years, the U.S. population has increased more than 40 percent while the GDP has tripled, from $2.5 to $7.5 trillion. Meanwhile, capital investment in public water resources infrastructure has decreased by 70 percent. For example, in the 1970s, the USACE's civil works construction appropriations were approximately $4 billion. However, in the 1990s, funding dropped to an average of $1.6 billion a year. Demographers predict that over the next 20 years, the U.S. population will grow by 50 million to a total of 325 million. Over the next 10 years, the GDP is expected to increase to $12.5 trillion. Undoubtedly, such growth will place a greater demand on the performance of the navigable waterways infrastructure. Without significant new investment, the size of the investment gap will widen and our navigable waterways will not be able to provide the benefits we have come to expect. Since navigable waterways make up such a significant portion of shipping in the Midwest, it is reasonable to conclude Illinois will experience similar financial challenges. As a whole, the country isn’t making the necessary investment in modernizing its waterways system. Timely maintenance is being deferred and there is an estimated $500 million operations and maintenance backlog on the navigable waterways in Illinois. The D- reflects the navigation locks currently have unacceptable reliability. Delays cost consumers more than $100 million per year. All but one of the navigation locks along Illinois waterways are more than 50 years old. Thirty-four of the 38 locks on the Upper Mississippi River are only 600 feet long, requiring inefficient and risky double lockages. There is an increased demand for efficient transportation due to growing world population and GDP creating the real possibility of missed revenue opportunities. There is more than $500 million in the maintenance backlog, which is growing each year. For each $1 spent on operations and maintenance there is a return of $6 in reduced shipping costs. A failure of the navigation system would have a drastic impact on the local economy. The industry supports 400,000 jobs.

2ac T – “Infrastructure Investment”

Administration doesn’t currently support the capital investment plan

Waterways Journal, 11 (2/7/2011, Editorial, “Objections Stifle Plan To Improve Infrastructure,” http://www.waterwaysjournal.net/news020711.html, JMP)
The Obama administration has come out against the long-term capital investment plan developed jointly by the Corps of Engineers and the Inland Waterways Users Board.

Waterways Council Inc. voiced its disappointment but indicated its intention to continue working with Congress to address the problem.

How long will it take to convince the administration that boosting employment levels is a critical step in alleviating the economic problems we face, and that investing in infrastructure is among the very best ways to put people back to work? Waterways infrastructure is not the only infrastructure to which that advice applies, but the inland waterways system is in critical condition. Therefore, investment in improvements could help us reach two major goals: boost employment and fix an infrastructure that is vulnerable to breakdown. According to many sources, including The American Waterways Operators, more than 44 percent of the inland locks and dams are at least 50 years old, and many are too small to efficiently handle the large tows that transit them daily.

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